Albert Troyke

Albert F. Troyke, 97, child of God, died Saturday, January 6 at his home in Park Terrace at Marquardt Village in Watertown.

A service to celebrate his life and witness to the Resurrection will be on Wednesday, January 10 at 11 a.m. at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Watertown, with the Rev. David Groth officiating. A visitation will be held on Wednesday at the church from 9 a.m. until the time of the service. The burial service will follow at the Lutheran Cemetery.

Troyke, a World War II veteran and dedicated church leader, was a retired accounting manager with 41 years of service at American Telephone and Telegraph Company.

He was born in Lombard, Ill., on July 30, 1920, the son of Albert and Gertrude Troyke. He attended Elmhurst College and Northwestern University. He served in the Army during World War II, stationed for more than two years in Panama, where he worked in the finance department. He was active in the newly established Lutheran church in the Canal Zone.

Following his honorary discharge, he returned to the Chicago area and resumed work with AT&T. He married Laura Geist on March 20, 1943, and they moved to New Jersey in 1950.

For many years, he was an accounting supervisor in various capacities with the Long Lines Department of AT&T, working in New York City and in the headquarters at Bedminster, N.J.  In 1980, he returned to Chicago, where he retired in 1982. He was an active member of the Telephone Pioneers and was honored for his work in that service organization.

A lifelong Lutheran, Troyke was a dedicated church leader, active in all aspects of church life. For many years in Fair Lawn, N.J., he conducted the church choir at Our Savior Lutheran Church, and served in various offices of the congregation and of the church’s New Jersey district.

When he and his wife retired in Watertown to be near their daughter, Lynn, a resident of Bethesda Lutheran Home, he became involved in the life of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. He served on the board of the Parent League at Bethesda for many years. As a resident of Marquardt Village, he acquired many friends, and enjoyed volunteering there.

Throughout his work and church life, Troyke was known for his diligence, his gentle spirit, and his kindness. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. He developed and retained a wide range of friends at work, at church, at Bethesda and at Marquardt Village. He will be remembered for his selflessness and his love and trust in God.

He is survived by his two daughters, Jean King and husband Van, of Greensboro, N.C.; and Lynn Troyke of Watertown; two grandsons, Reaves King and wife, Layne, of Greensboro and Troy King and wife, Andrea, of Dallas, Texas; five great-grandchildren, Hodges and Drew of Greensboro and Sheridan, Kendall and Lucy of Dallas; and two sisters, Leila Schlak and Helen Rakow.

Memorials, in lieu of flowers, may be made to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and to Marquardt Hospice.